Manufacture of sheet metal.



No. 662,513. l Ptented Nov. 27, |900. R. G. WOOD. v

MANUFAGTURE 0F SHEET METAL.

(Application led Feb. 23, 1900.)

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wlTNsssE uuu. 662,5r3. Patented Nov. 27, |900.

R. G. WOOD. MANuFAcTuRE 0F SHEET METAL. l (Afpucation med Feb. 2s, 1900.-,

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UNITED STATES a im i. l

ATnNT trice,

MANUFACTURE oF4 SHEET ivi ETAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,513, dated November 27, 1900.

Application filed February 23, 1900. Serial No. 6,244. llilo model.:

` certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Sheet Metal, of which improvements Vthe following is a speci-catiou.`

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in the manufacture of sheet metal.

lt has heretofore been the practice to reduce an ingot by rolling to fiat bars about veeighths to t-hree'quarters of an inch in thickness. These bars are then cut into sections, known as sheet-bars, of a length equal or approximately equal to the Width of the 'Fliese sheet-bars are then heated and fed edgewise one at a time between suitable rolls, whereby they are reduced to about a quarter or an eighth of an Two sheets of this gage or thickness are then placed one uponthe other and rolled down to about eighteen or twenty gage. These sheets are then separated and a pile consisting of five or six sheets placed one upon the otheris then formed and heated to a good rolling temperature, but below a welding temperature. The sheets composing the pack or pile are then reduced to the desired gage by rolling the pack between suitable sheet-rolls. All of the operations incident to the described method-suoh as feeding to the shears, piling the sheets, and charging the material at its different stages into the furnace or furnaces-are performed by hand, and the method therefore involves the expenditure of a great amount'of labor and time.

This invention is based largely on what I believe to be a new method of sheet-rolling,the leading or essential characteristics of which are, iirst, the rolling of the metal always or uniformly in the same direotionnthat is, in the same line of feed, as distinguished from the method heretofore employed, wherein the direction or line of feed in respect of the sheetbars was reversedthat is to say, the first dii rection of feed in breaking down or reducing 5o `the billet to sheet-bars being lengthwise, ef-

` fecting longitudinal elongation, and the next direction or line of feed in breaking down the bars to sheets was sidewise or at right angles to the first direction or line of feed. 'llo this end, second, at the beginning or first stages of the rolling operation and while the bloom ingot or billet is being reduced down to, say, a plate form or thickness one-quarter of an inch, more or less, I bring it to and thereby establish approximately the width of the finished sheet. Heretofore the width of the finished sheet was usually fixed or established by the shearing of the barinto sections forming sheet-bars each of a length equal or approximately equal to the desired width of the finished sheet. Instead of this shearing to final width in my method I shear to aconvenient piling and rolling length, and this is true of all shearing operations. In other words, my method differs from any previously known tome, among other things, in

that I establish the width of the sheet in and by the preliminary rolling and not by shearing, as heretofore, and also in my improved method I am enabled thereby to always roll the material in the same line or direction of feed, and to do it solely with reference to the element of elongation, simultaneous with reduction, but without material spreading, and, further, in shearing the plate to lconvenient rolling lengths I am enabled at this stage in the operation to begin the formation of piles or packs consisting of two or more sections of plate arranged one upon the other. By the term piling and rolling length as herein employed is meant a length which will permit of two or more sections being placed one upon the other and passed simultaneously through reducing-rolls. This shearing of the plate into sections of a convenient rolling length corresponds to the shearing of a bar into sheet-bar sections in the old methods. rlhe sheet-bars are cut to a length greater than their width, which is usually about six inches, more or less. Bars of such dimensions cannot be placed one upon the other and the pile thus formed passed between reducing-rolls unless the bars are welded together; but by cutting the plate into sections of lengths equal to or greater than their widths two or more of the sections can be formed intoa pile or pack and held in proper .relation to each other whilebeing reduced.

In this way greater facility of operation is ef- IOO fected, a greatly-increased product is secured,

and loss by waste in trimming is broughtV to a minimum. This system of operation also includes another element of advantage which I believe to be newin sheet-rolling. Where the width of the final sheet, as in previous methods of operation, has been fixed by shearing*that is, shearing the bar to lengths equal to the final width of sheet-say generally from piling and handling in further operations by suitable cranes and feed-tables mechanically driven, and of course with a further large consequent reduction ofthe manual labor required in former methods.x In fact, fully eighty per cent. of manual labor heretofore employed can be dispensed with, and as a further substantial ad vantage, as the sections and sheets so formed can be mechanically handled in piles of considerable size, Ythe amount of product which can be worked at once can be increased in amount approximately ten or twenty times.

Another feature which I believe to be a substantial improvement in sheet-metal rolling relates to the manner of compacting together the sheets of each pile as preliminary to but a part of the rolling operation. After the sheets have been reduced to about No. 18 or loosely one `upon the other be fed to rolls set at a proper distance apart to reduce the thickness of the pack, the top and bottoml sheets vent the displacement referred to.

will be pushed back from the pack. To overcome this tendency, the rolls are separated a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of the pack, run the pack preferably half through the rolls, tighten down the rolls with particular reference to compacting the pack rather than its reduction, and then run the pack forward and back one, two, or more times, this part of the operation being performed in a two-high reversing or three-high mill, until the sheets of the pack are brought into such close contact with each other that their frictional engagement will when reducing-pressure is applied be sufficient to pre- The employment of comparatively thick top and botseams tom plates in making up the pack will so far prevent loss of heat by radiation as to enable this compressing of the blocks to be effected without lessening or interfering with subsequent reduction.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, Figure l is a diagrammatic View of my improved plant. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the continuous heating-furnace. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a three-high mill with feed tables for feeding and receiving the packs or piles. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of a press for compacting and straightening the sheets when piled. Fig. 5 is an elevation of a transfer-crane having a carryingfork. Fig. 6 is a View, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the feed mechanism for shifting the sheet packs or piles to vthe straightening-presses andf u rnaces, theplane ofl section being indicated bythe line VI VI, Fig. 1.-A Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of the same mechanism on a plane indicated by the line VII VII, Fig. l. Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are views illustrating different methods of compacting the piles or packs preliminary to the rolling or reduction thereof. v

In, the practice of my invention the ingot is taken from the soaking-pit or heating-furnace and transferred to the front feed-table l of the blooming-mill 2, in which it is reduced by back and forth passes, in the manner well known in the art, to a slab about two to four inches thick and having a width approximately equal to the width desired in the finished sheets. The slab is then fed by 'the rear feed-table la or a prolongation thereof to the shear mechanism 3, which may be of any suitable or known construction, and thereby divided'- into sections of suitable length. y These slab-sections are then fed in succession to the continuous mill 4, whereby they are elongated and reduced to plates of about one-quarter of nan inch in thickness. There is no material widening of t-he material by this continuous millnor in any of the subsequent reductions to which it is subjected. It will be observed` that the reduction from the ingot to this poin'tj-t. e., the end of the continuous mill, which corresponds to that IOO IIO

point in the old method where doubling or the placing of sheets one upon the other beginsis effected without any reheating of the material, the several operations being effected withsuch rapidity that the material does not cool below a good rolling temperature. From the continuous mill 4 the plates are` carried by the feed-table 6 to the shear mechanism 7, where they are divided into sections about four feet or of any other suitable piling and rollinglength. As the production of the plant to this point is about double the capacity of the mechanism or apparatus employed in the further reduction and treatment of the material it is preferred to employduplicate or triplicate mechanisms in suchfurther reduction. Hence two lines of feed-tables 8 8a extend sides of the shear mechanism.

from the shear mechanism 7, the front ends of the feed-tables being arranged on opposite As the sections are cut by the shears they are pushed laterally, by any suitable construction of mechanism, alternately or in any desired order onto the tables 8 S, by which they are fed to points near the charging ends of the furnaces 9 9a. These furnacesare constructed in any suitable manner, whereby the plates, arranged in piles, as hereinafter described, may be moved continuously through them. A convenient construction for this purpose consists in forming the bottoms in sections and independent of the other parts of the furnace, as shown in Fig. 2. These bottom sections 10 are mounted on trucks the Wheels of Whichmove along rails 11, extending a suitable distance beyond the ends of the furnaces. The trucks carrying the bottom sections can be moved continuously or step by step through the furnace by any suitable means, as, for example-by endless chains 12, adapted to engage portions of the trucks. As it will be generally more advantageous to divide the plates as they come from the mill 4 into sections of suitable length, ldependent upon the gage of sheet to be produced, it is preferred in order to avoid excessively-long furnaces to make the latter of a width slightly greater than the length of the plate-sections and to pass the piles of said sections laterally through the furnaces. Hence the sections must be turned horizontally through an arc of ninety degrecs, as the material during the preceding steps has been moved endwise. A convenient means for eifecting this shifting and turning of the plate sections consists of cranes 13 13, located in convenient relation to the feed-tables 3 8FL and the furnaces 9 9a. Forks 14E depend from the jibs of the cranes and are made vertically adjustable by the fluid-pressure cylinders 16, so that the forks can be lowered when in position in front of the feed-tables, thereby permitting of the lowering of the forks as the plate-sections are fed onto them, so that said sections will be snperposed one upon the other. As soon as the desired number of plate-sections-say iive or six, more or less-have been arranged in a pile the crane is swung around and the pile placed transversely on the portion of one of the bottom sections lO projecting beyond the front end of the furnace, as shown in Fig. 2. As the plate-sections are fed endwise onto the shifting-forks the movement of the forks through an arc of ninety degrees to position over the bottom section 10 will give the desired horizontal rotation to the pile, so that it may be moved laterally through the furnace. It will be understood that other forms of constructions of mechanical devices may be employed for piling the plates and transferring the piles to the furnaces. As a pile of properly-heated plate-sections passes out of the furnace it is raised from the project-ing ends of the furnace-bottoms by forks similar to the forks 14 and similarly supported by cranes 16 16a. These cranes are so located that the piles carried by the forks may be deposited by horizontal movements ofthe cranejibs through arcs of ninety degrees upon feedtables, whereby the piles are fed end wise into the bed plates or anvils of the evening and compacting presses 17 17a. As the plates may not be laid regularly one upon the other as they are fed onto the shifting-forks by the feed-tables 8 8a and are also liable to be somewhat warped or twisted while being heated and handled it is desirable that the plates in each pile should be arranged evenly and lie as flatly as possible one upon the other to facilitate the reduction of the pile. To this end the presses are formed with bed plates or anvils 19 and movable heads or platens 2O of approximately the same length and breadth as the plates forming the piles, so that the piles will be subjected to uniform pressures to insure the plates lying flat upon each other. A convenient means for evening consists of leaves 21, hinged to the anvil in such manner that when turned up by finiti-pressure cylinders 22 or other suitable means they will stand at right angles to the face of the anvil. In order to avoid folding the edges of the plates, the leaves after being turned up are given a straight inward movement, so as to strike fairly on the edges of the plates and bring them into the desired alinement. It will be understood that the leaves will be operated prior to the movable head or platen of t he press and while the plates lie loosely on each other. After the plates in the piles have been evened up and straightened the piles are fed by the feed-tables 23 23a to the continuous mills 2li 24, consisting of a series of pairs of rolls so constructed and adjusted relative to each other in accordance with rules well known in the art as to eect a reduction of the plates composing the piles to sheets of, or approximately of, eighteen or twenty gage. Uuring this reduction there will not be any material widening of the plates or sheets, but there will be such an elongation as to renderit desirable to divide the piles or sheets composing the piles into sections of suitable length, dependent upon the gage required in the finished sheets. To this end suitable shear mechanisms 26 2ba are arranged at the rear ends of the feed-tables 25 25, which receive the piles from the last pair of rolls of the continuous mills 24 24% After the piles have been sheared into sections, as stated, the sheets com posing such pile-sections are separated from each other and rearranged in piles consisting of thirty, forty, fifty, or more sheets. rlhese newly-formed sheet-piles are then transferred to one or the other of the evening and straightening presses 27 27a, dac., which may be of any suitable constructionsuch, for example, as that shown in Fig. 4. A convenient means for transferring the sheet-pile to the presses 27 27a, &c., consists IOO IIO

-at the front end of the feed mechanism and pushed onto the latter as soon as formed. The piles are shifted along by means of fingers 30, carried by the endless chains 31, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In order to transfer the piles from` the chains or feed mechanism onto the anvils of the presses, feed-tables 32, having driven rollers, are arranged across the feed mechanism at points in line with the presses. The ends of the tables adjacent to the presses are pivotallysupported and their outer ends are adapted to be shifted vertically by fluid-pressure cylinders 33. Normally the feed-tables are lowered so that the upper surfaces of their rollers will be on a level with or slightly below the paths of movement of the chains. When it is desired to shift one of the piles to a press, the feedrollers are raised when a pile is moved into line therewith, so that the rotating rollers will lift the pile from the chains and shift it onto the anvil of the press. The feed-table is then lowered, so as to permit the endless chains to move piles into line with other presses. The sheets should be so piled on the table 29 that the piles will be moved laterally by the chains and endwise by the feedtables into the presses. After the sheets have been evened up and straightened by the presses the piles are removed and charged into the furnaces 34 34a, rbc., ,by cranes 35 35, dac. As shown in Fig. 1, the furnaces are made circular with inside charging-openings, so that each furnace, which is constructed to receive a num-` ber of piles, may be served by one crane located in the center of the circle. These cranes are preferably constructed similar to the cranes 13 and 16, heretofore described. As soon as the sheet-piles have been properly heated they are removed from the furnaces by the cranes 35 35a, dto., and placed upon thefront feed-tables of the mills 36 36, &c. These mills may be of any suitable type, hut preferably either of the three-high type, as shown in Fig. 3, or of the well-known twohigh reversing type, the rolls of such mills being suitably constructed for rolling sheets. As the piles may be opened up during the heating thereof, thereby rendering it possible for some of the upper sheets to be dislodged When the piles are fed to the rolls for the first pass, protecting or cap plates 37 may be placed on the upper side or on the upper and lower sides ofthe piles, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. These plates are made somewhat longer than the piles and have their front or entering en'dscurved inwardly to such an extent that the distance between the cap-plates and the bottoms of the piles at the entering end will not exceed and preferably will be somewhat less than the distance between the rolls. By this means wedge-like entering-points are provided for the piles, and the front ends of t 42 42, dsc.

the sheets are gradually forced together without crowding any of the sheets off of the piles.

As the sheets are usually so tightly pressed together in the first pass that they will adhere to each other there is little liability of the upper or outer sheets being dislodged in subsequent passes, and the cap-plates may therefore be dispensed with. However, as these cap-plates are thicker than the sheets, and therefore will cool more slowly than the sheets, (the cap-plates being placed on the piles prior to their being heated,) they may be advantageously retained during the entire reduction of the piles in the mills 36 36?, &c. As the sheets will be generally caused to so adhere to each other by the compression effected in the rst pass as to rendera dislodgment of any of the sheets in subsequent passes improbable such compression of the piles may be effected by separating the rolls sufliciently to permit the piles being fed in between the rolls without any reduction uutil the piles are about half-Way through the rolls. The upper roll is then forced down by its adjusting mechanism to obtain the desired bite or compression on the piles and the rolls rotated, thereby compressing and reducing the piles from the middle tooue end, as shown in Fig. 10.' The piles are then fed back through the rolls, thereby reducing and compressing the other ends of the piles. By subsequent back-and-forth passes through the mills 36 36a, dto., the sheets are reduced to or approximately to twenty-six or twentyeight gage. Comparatively thick top and bottom plates may be advantageously employed when compacting and reducing the piles in the manner shown in Fig. 10. If no further reduction is required, the piles or packs are passed through the annealing-furnaces 37 37a, ydac., and thence to the shears 38, Where the piles are cut into sections of length equal or approximately equal to the desired length of the finished sheets. The piles. are then opened up or the sheets separated from each other, and if no further Working is desired are passed to the trimmingshears'39, where the sheets are cut to the required length and breadth.

If the sheets are to be cold rolled or linished, they are, after being separated from each other, as stated, pickled and otherwise treated in the manner well known in the art and then passed singly or in piles through the cold-rolls 40 and then trimmed by the shears 39.

If sheets of a gage lighter than that produced by the rolls 36 are desired, the piles as they come from the rolls 36 are sheared into i sections of suitable length by shear mechanisms 41 41a, &c. The sheets of the pile-sec- `tions are separated, rearranged in piles of fifty, sixty, or seventy sheets, more or less,

evened and compressed, as heretofore described, and charged into heating-furnaces After beingheated the piles are reduced in mills 43 43a, similar to the mills IOO IIO

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36 and in the manner described in connection with said mills. After being reduced in the mills 4 3 the piles or sheets are annealed and otherwise treated, as heretofore described.`

Among the `many novel characteristics of my improved method attention is especially called to the fact that the piling and consequentsimultaneousreduction are begun much earlier and While the material is much thicker than in the old method, in Which the sheetbars are brokendown to or approximately to eighteen gage before piling is commenced. In

my method piling is commenced While the plate has approximately the thickness of the sheet-bars.

While I have described With some particularity mechanisms for effecting the several steps of my improved method of manufactu ring sheets, other mechanisms,which will read ily suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art, may be employed. Hence the invention set forth herein is not limited to the use of any particular forms or constructions of mechanisms employed.

I claim herein as my invention-- l. As an improvement in the art of rolling met-al sheets without changing the direction of feed, the method described herein, which consists in reducing an ingot by rolling Without reheating into a plate or bar of a Width approximately equal to the Width desired in the nished sheets and shearing such bar or plate into sections of suitable length for piling and further rolling in the same direction, substantially as set forth.

2. As an improvement in the art of rolling metal sheets Without changing the direction of feed, the method herein described, which consists in reducing an ingot by rolling into a bar or plate of a Width approximately equal to the Width desired in the nished sheet,

shearing such bar or plate in sections of suitable piling and rolling length, arranging the sections in piles, heating the piles and then rolling the piles lengthwise to reduce the thickness of the plates composing the piles without materially increasing the widths of the sheets, substantially as set forth.

3. As an improvement in the art of rolling metal sheets Without changing the direction of feed, the method herein described, which consists in reducing an ingot by rolling into a bar or plate of a Width approximately equal to the Width desired in the finished sheet, shearing such bar or plate in sections of suitable piling and rolling length, arranging the sections in piles, heating the piles, then rolling the piles lengthwise to reduce the thickness of the plates composing the piles Without materially increasing the Widths of the sheets, shearing the piles into sections of suitable rolling length, opening up the sections, arranging the sheets in piles, heating the piles and then rolling lengthwise the piles to reduce the sheets in thickness without materially increasing the widths of the sheets, substantially as set forth.

4C. As a step in the' manufacture of sheet metal in packs, the method of preventing displacement of the sheets by inserting the pack between the opened reducing-rolls, screwing the rolls down onto the pack and compressing the sheets on each other from a line of bite intermediate of the ends of the pack to :such ends, preliminary to the application of .a reducing pressure, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RICHARD G. WOOD.

Witnesses:

DARWIN S. WoLooTT, F. E. GAITHER. 

